Smoking stand



J. C. WILLIAMSON Sept. 30, 1952 SMOKING STAND Filed Aug. I5, 1950 2 SHEETS -SHEET 1 7. G- Willie/M070 ATTORNEYS P 1952 J. c. WILLIAMSON I 2,612,313

SMOKING STAND Filed Aug. 15, 1950 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 J0. Williamam INVENTOR I I BY I 1 v I 4 ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 30, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SMOKING STAND James C. Williamson, Albany, Ga.

Application August 15, 1950, Serial No. 179,553

1 Claim.

"This invention relates to a smoking stand/and more particularly, has reference to a smoking stand construction particularly adapted as part of a combination including an ash tray, smoking stand, cigarette container, and lighter.

Bywayof. background, it may be noted that smoking stands" as heretofore devised and commonly used sometimes include an ash tray having a normally closed opening, said openin adapted to be exposed for the purpose of causing the ashes to drop within a well disposed therebelow. However, in these devices as heretofore made, it is generally necessary to remove the top of the well, to take out of the well a special container in which said ashes are deposited, or alternatively, it is necessary to completely invert'the stand for the purpose of emptying said well.

An important object of the present invention, accordingly,,is to provide a generally improved construction for an article of this character, WhEIElH lII. all forms of the device, means are provided that normally close the opening in the ash, receiver, and also an opening in the lower end of the. well, ,s'aid means being selectively operable 'in a mannerv .to open the first-named opening to theexclusion of the second, and the second-named opening to the exclusion of the first, thus to permit the deposit of ashes from the receiver into the well whenever desired, and thus also to permit the vemptying-of the well whenever desired andwithout the inconveniences which have been noted with respect to construetio'ns'for device's of'this type presently in general use. 7

Another important object is to provide a construction for a smoking stand or the like which can be embodied in a smokingstand of any design, whether it be a floor-type stand,.wal1-hu;ng stand, or a table model.

Still another object is to provide a design for a smoking stand which will provide the beneficial results desired, andwhich will at the same time,

claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement or parts without departing from the spirit ofthe invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, portions present instance I have illustrated the invention as embodied in a floor-type smoking stand. However, this is illustrated purely a's one preferred example of. a type of stand. to which the invention is readily adapted. It wlll'be understood that the invention is equally Well adapted for embodiment in table model stands, wall-hung stands, or any other type of smoking stand. Additionally, and at the outset, it may be noted that I have illustrated in combination with the] present smoking stand various accessories such as a cigarette and cigar holder or box, but again, it is believed worthy of note that this can'oij course be omitted-since it plays no part in the, actual mechanical operation of the smoking. stand, although in the commercial embodiment. of the invention said stand would include thesedesirable accessories.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the floor-type stand there illustrated includes a base I rigid with'theupstandingrhollow body 2 here shown as cylindrical in cross sectional configuration. However, the cross sectional configuration of the body; can be variedas desired, without departure from the spirit of the invention as claimed- Mounted in the, upper end of the body 2 is the concavo-convex ash receiver 3 having a large center opening 4 normally closed by a circular concavo-convex valve member 5.

The valve member 5, which can be termed the;

upper valve member, iscurved or bowed upwar'd ly as distinguished from the receiver 3 whi depressed or dished downwardly.

Formed in the center of the valve member 5 the opening 6 whereby said member 5 is slidably" mounted upona vertically disposed operating rod 1 extending upwardly through the center portion of the hollow body 2, and projecting upwardly through th receiver 3. The'upper end and illustrat chis I of the operating rod 1 is provided with a knob or operating handle 8, whereby a user can pull upwardly upon the rod or press downwardly thereupon, depending upon the use to which the rod is to be put.

Abutting at one end against the valve member 5, so as to press said valve member yieldably and upwardly into position to close the opening 4, is a coil: spring 9; surrounding the rod'l, said spring abutting. at its other end against a bearing collar l through which the rod 1 is slidably positioned, said bearing being integral or other wise made rigid with diametrically opposed radial arms H the outer ends of which arespring 9, to expose the opening l, and thus cause apy.,ashes which mayhave'been deposited in the reef verge tog'ravitate into thej well below the receiver, there to accumulateuntil suchtime as the well is to be emptied in a nian'nerto be'presently' made apparent. L

The lowe'rflend 6f the operating rod 1 is slidable ma center peniiigj 3" formed in a concaveconvexlowervalve member M, said valve member l4being'bowed upwardly'a'nd being in peripheral engagement with the-e'd'gep'ortion of a center lsrbrmea in the concave-convex bottom fis'ecuredto th'e' wall of the hollow body 2 eferably el'evatedso'niewhat above the floor supporting. surface. loweri'endpf the rod 1 is provided with a stq collar. 11,. which is adapted to. engage the I valve"merhber" [4 whenever the rod 1 is pullediu ardlybya'usen: thus to elevate the t v r {Win19 mariner-to expose the opent reb'yg permit the well to be emptied will thus' be see" that by depression of the the opening communicatingbetween the r' and the wellis exposed whilethe open- ;thelower end of the well still remains Thus, as'hes'can be regularly emptied out erece'iver and can be permitted to accumulate in the well as necessary;

When, however, the well is to'be emptied, it-is ne'c 's's'arypmy that the user now pull upwardly "the knob 8, and this upwardmove'ment of thergd 1 will cause thejstop collar I1 to'engage and elevate the lower valve member l4. Thus; the ope g 4 will nowibe held closed while the openingjjiiis opened for the purpose of emptying the well of'accumulatedashes; I l

the present embodiment of the invention; I prefer to provide for use with the smokin stand a n binationcigarettebox and lighter,.and to this'end, upwardly converging supports l8 are riveted or otherwise fixedlys'ecure'd by fastening elements s to the" upstanding" annuiar. flange 20 litabed in'Figi 4, tfiisfdrni of the ifiviltion' ill-'- cludes a depressed receiver 24 having a center opening 25 normally closed by the upp r valve member 26 rigidly mounted upon an operating rod 21 having at its upper end the knob 28. A spring 29 surrounds the rod and abuts at one end against the upper valve member 26, and at the other end against a collar 30 on a spider 3| rigidly mounted within the well.

From the construction which-has been so far described, it will be seen-that tlie spring-19 serves to hold the valve member 26 normally pressed upwardly against the edge of the opening 25, so as, to hold said opening normally closed.

However, upon depression of the knob 28, the opening 25 is exposed to permit ashes to. be dropped from the receiver 24 into the well, there to aceummate'unursuch time as the well is to be emptied The wellis closed at its lower end by the downwardly dished bottom plate 32 having thecenter opening 331" closed by "the lower" valve-1 member 34 th'atiis slidably mounted; upon the s aft 21; A spring 35 abuts at or'iee'n'd' againstth member" spaced 2''. short distance above the mwjer valve;

a short distance; will be sufiicien't to; expose" the" opening. 25 ror" the purpose orcausing. ashesf t q gravitate from t e as receiver mto; the" wen; However, thisfshortQdoti/nwar'd' travel win up: bring the collar 38 into en agememflwitu the" lower valve member 3 4 anuthus, even though the";

upper'o'pening' shouldbe exposed, the' lower openelw ai y s m However, if; thek'nob I8 is pressed downwardly still'furthe'r, not o'n'ly'will theupper opening be opened, but also; the opening 3 3f'at the lower end otthe wellwill nowib'e opefi; because the collar 38 wil1 engage the lower valve member 34', and agair'i'stth'e action of thes'prir'ig' 35 will depress said lower'valve member so', asto'expose the opening 33; thus to caus'e'ashes accumulated within" the'well to ravitate out of said 1bwe'r 'opemhgto any Suitable receiver over which the smoking.

stand may-be'tempor'arily positioned ior'this' purpose. V t

x n theform' of the invention as illustrated in Fig. 5, in this'modification the depress receiver 38 is provided with a center opening 39 normally. closed by the upper valve member positioned;

immediately thereabove and slidably mounted upon a rod 4'] havin'g rigidly'mounted thereon a stop collar 41" disposed immediately, belowtlie' upper valve member 40 andadapted-to' cause'ele rod 4"l'isilifted; I v

In this form ofthe' invention, thewell is closed at its lower end by the bottom plate 42 having valtioh of the upper" Valve member whenever" the the'cente'r opening 43 normally closed the lower valve member 44'engageableby a collar rigid.-

with the lOWcr'en'd portion of the rodAL the lower valve member i i being'yieldably pressed upwardly against" the" onar 45 by. means 10f: a spring as the otherend'of which abuts againsta" s er or partially cut; away bottom plate 41 rigidly. mounted at the lowlie'nd' of the hollow body 2" and extendingtiiereacrcss; said member 4'!- having the centrally disposed nipple 48 through which the rod 4| is slidably positioned. In use of the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 5, the use; pulls upwardly upon the rod 4| if it is desired to cause ashes that may'have accumulated within the receiver 38 to fall into the well. Elevation of the member 40 is caused,

of course, by engagement of the collar 4| with said member.

This operation will not cause opening of the bottom opening 43, the lower valve member 44 being slidably positioned upon the member 4| and not being engaged in any way by upward movement of said member 4|. The spring 46, in

other words, holds the lower member 44 yieldably in position to close the opening 43 at this time.

However, if it is desired to empty the well of ashes which may have accumulated therein, it is necessary only to press downwardly upon the knob at the upper end of the rod 4|. By so doing, the user causes the collar 45 to engage the lower valve member 44 and force it downwardly with the rod against the action of the spring 46.

This causes the lower opening 43 to be exposed, as a result of which ashes which accumulated within the well will gravitate downwardly into any suitable container or receiver, not shown.

In all forms of the invention, it will be understood that the construction is well adapted for use with a table model or wall-hung type of smoking stand. In such instances, the dimensions of the smoking stand, particularly the well portion, would probably be'varied somewhat, and most usually said dimensions would be cut down as necessary. In any event, the plunger rod can in all instances be of any desired length, and the operation would be the same.

In this connection, it will be appreciated that all forms of the invention illustrated have in common certain important characteristics. each form of the invention, the well is provided with openings at the upper and lower ends thereof, and these openings are adapted to be selectively uncovered by manipulation of a single op- In a smokers stand a hollow body; a receiver extending across and closing the upper end of said body, said receiver having a center opening; a bottom plate extending acrossthe lower end portion of said body, there being defined between. said receiver and bottom plate a well for accumulated ashes, said bottom plate having a center opening; a plunger mounted for up and down sliding movement upon said body and extending throughsaid well and openings; upper and lower valve members both slidably mounted upon said plunger and positioned to normally close the openings of the receiver and the bottom plate; spaced collars rigid with saidplunger, one of said collars underlying the upper valve member and the other collar overlying the lower valve member, whereby on elevation of the plunger the upper valve member willbe elevated to expose the opening of the receiver and whereby on depression of the plunger the lower valve member will be depressed to expose the opening of the bottom plate; and a spring underlying the lower valve member and normally biasing said lower valve member and plunger upwardly,

JAMES C. W'ILLIAMSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Grofi Jan. 7, 1941 

